[QUOTE=gm_gm;39930824]taken from the govt website pup [QUOTE]

Interesting looking at the data as presentred like that so you can see the patterns of hospitalisations over time.

I would agree that the hospitalisation and death counts are far more significant that cases, and that the media are prone to blow up the case rate significance to sell copy. I get that.

However a precautionary note:

1. The website indicates that just over the last 7 days (up to 12th dec) the hospiatalisation rate has gone up 8.6% against the previous week. Your list of data shows that there have been fluctuations along these lines before so may not be significant. But:
2. Unlike other periods in the fluctuation hospitalisation rates list, there hasn't been anything close to the huge rise in cases as ove rthe last few days and only in the next 2 weeks or so will we see the impact of the cases being reported and those that end up in hospital. On that basis, I think the current reasonable protections of working from home/masks/passports for large events are perfectly reasonable.

On an anecdotal basis, we have had a notable outbreak at my work with 23 out of 90 workers testing positive, most symptoms matching Omicron and whilst not pleasent, pretty much all of the staff are reporting significantly milder symptoms than those who had covid in the previous year: a couple of days of fever, sore throat, headaches and then breaking out into more coldlike symptoms. However, we have quite a young staff, only 2 or 3 of those were even approaching 50. I hope that this is a positive sign but imo the government are right to take action to reduce chances of the NHS being buried. We all can play a part in that with getting the vaccines and boosters the most powerful thing we can do but distancing, masks and not snogging strangers important too.